Locally Made Film to Debut at Raven on Friday

“The Breeder,” a new film by Sonoma County director and screenwriter Dan Schieberl, debuts Friday, Aug. 10 at the Raven Performing Arts Theater in Healdsburg at 8 p.m. A trailer for the film can be seen on www.milemarker17.com.

“The Breeder” is a sci-fi drama involving abduction and evolving relationships with a religious twist.  One local critic calls it, “A captivating story of two people thrown together in an odyssey from which there appears to be no escape.” The film stars Ivy Miller, an aspiring actress from Los Angeles, and Ehren Werner, a Sonoma County resident with a unique screen presence.  “The Breeder” is part one of a film trilogy.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER:

“The Breeder” is the first feature-length film of Dan Schieberl, a native Santa Rosan, who is fulfilling a life-long dream to make movies.  That aspiration was set aside long ago for a career in the construction industry which helped him support his family.  Then one day Schieberl saw a roadside sign in Sebastopol from a local film group asking, “Do you want to make movies?”  With his children nearly grown, he said he “took the plunge.”

Schieberl purchased a used digital camera, lighting equipment and a dolly and set his mind to learning to use the equipment.  He drew everyone he knew into his dream like a vortex, turning his wife, Christine, into a producer, his daughter, Jessica, into an actress and his parents into extras. He even traded a ride-on lawnmower to editor and mentor, Kirk Demorest.

“The Breeder” was filmed primarily in Santa Rosa, with most of the filming done in a set built in the garage of the Schieberls’ unique Santa Rosa home, which was featured in a Press Democrat story last year.  He also wrote the screenplay and put his construction skills to use building the set. 

Dan and Christine spent many late nights pouring over the details of the screenplay, designing and sewing costumes, reviewing actor resumes and preparing for a full day of filming, all while operating their construction company to pay the bills.  Schieberl calls “The Breeder” his “film school.” MileMarker17 Productions, based in Sonoma County, was founded in 2009.